I missed out on a Super Ricohflex at a thrift shop auction as a kid. I remember thinking it was the coolest thing in the world... Only to get outbid. This camera has ever since held a special place in my heart as 'the one that got away'.
You should develop the film if and when you can. There may be some great memories on there. Or at least tape the roll tight and shut. Seems like a sweet find. Love finding old rolls in cameras.
Gotta stop you there. That's not at all how the sports finder works. It's meant to be used with *both eyes* - don't believe me? Check the manual, or try it yourself. Leave the magnifier down, it needs to cover the "eye hole" (it can't really be called an eyepiece can it?). Look through the eye hole with your left eye - and leave your right eye *open* - the effect is the same as a bright line viewfinder. Your right eye takes in the whole scene, your left eye only sees the frame lines. The magnifier *has to be down* for the effect to work. Try it! It's very clever! Edit: watching further... You have read the manual right? The auto-stop mechanism is called auto-stop for a reason. If it is not stopping the film, then it's broken. That is entirely what it is supposed to do. Stop the film automatically when you wind to the next frame. Ricoh even sold these separately to be retrofitted to older cameras. If you are trying to set the auto-stop mechanism the way you describe, the framing will be messed up. If you follow the directions in the manual, and the auto-stop isn't broken, it works fine. I've had two Ricohflex cameras with it, and both stopped the film as they should with no overlapping or missing frames.
I think you'll find that the magnifying lens should be used when in the eye level mode, rather than folded up. Great demo on both cameras. I have the older version, but still keeping an eye out for the newer one.
I really enjoyed this video. I picked up a Super Ricohflex and got the lenses moving again. They were almost completely frozen from the dried lubricant. Not sure if I ended up aligning the viewing and taking lenses though as I have not shot the camera yet.
That sport finder got me thinking. Whether it was or wasn't meant to, could it be used in the same way that a Voigtländer Kontur finder works? If the frame line gaps in front are clearly brighter I can see this totally working when shooting with both eyes open.
I picked up an older super ricohflex on eBay and used your excellent videos when I went through and cleaned it up, so thanks for those! Unfortunately after I Mankato get the shutter moving again and was in the process of reassembly, the spring on the shutter return arm (or whatever it's called) broke. So the project has been dead in the water for a while now. I think I can make a new spring (already attempted a batch, didn't quite get the shape correct) but I was wondering how often you come across examples of these old ricohflexes that you use for spare parts?
I came across the first one on eBay and it looks to be in great condition at a pretty good deal so I'm appreciative of this information for my research. Btw I'm interested to see what's on the film
Very interesting video, as usual! I presently shoot with a Yashica Mat 124 (non G) and I restore a Mamiya Six IV. Regarding this one, I can't find any information about the serial number 75569, year and month. Could you advise me?
